


Three Times Dick Grayson Fought Batman

by Red_Tigress



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Batfamily (DCU), Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 04:03:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Tigress/pseuds/Red_Tigress
Summary: Three times Dick Grayson fought Batman. For the most part, it's not his fault.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first Batfam fic, although I have been here a while...this lives sorta in the generic universe that encompasses YJ, the animated movies, and the comics. Sorta a hodgepodge. I didn't really start this FOR whumptober, but the motivation was enough to finish it. This is complete, so if you're waiting on a chapter, give it a few minutes and I'll have it up. Thanks as usual to both Blood From the Thorn and Meskeet for looking over various parts of this, and keeping my motivation high!

Dick had only known Bruce’s secret for a few months, and had only been training with him a few weeks. Forms, it was only forms, Bruce told him. Dick picked them up fast. He was only 9 but he’d been training to be a professional athlete his whole life already. These were just new moves.

He asked for a new form every day, or for him to practice on something that wasn’t a boxing dummy. Despite Dick’s natural skill, Bruce was hesitant to teach him quickly. Dick, still too nervous to out ask him to help him track down Tony Zucco, went at Bruce’s pace.

Something had set him off in school today. Some bully had said some stupid homophobic slur to another kid when they were all talking about their hobbies and this kid had said he did dance lessons. Dick told him to cut it out, to which the reply was “Why, you his _boyfriend_?” The smug look on the bully’s face was quickly wiped off by Dick’s 9 year old fist knocking him right in the teeth. 

The fight was quickly broken up by the teacher, and it was a swift trip to the principal’s office and a ride in the back of Aston Martin with only Alfred’s silence for company. Dick felt somewhat guilty he had started a blatant fight in school, and definitely felt bad he had been caught. But he didn’t feel sorry he’d punched that kid for being a jerk.

He was granted a short respite in his room to process the events of the day, but it was quickly over with a summons from “Master Bruce” to meet him in the gym with his training gear on.

Perplexed, he put on his training gear but was down there a few minutes later. His chin dropped to his chest, automatically ashamed when Bruce just stared him down from the middle of the mats as he entered.

“Do you know why you can’t start fights with kids in school?”

Dick, still staring at the mat, shook his head.

“They’re not trained to take a hit. They’re just kids. They’re going to say stupid stuff. It’s admirable you came to that boy’s defense, but next time you need to use your brain.”

Dick quivered with frustration. “How am I supposed to do that? All you teach me is forms. I punch a boxing dummy all day. I’m not gonna…_leap_ over the guy and do a flip or something, that’s stupid.”

Bruce just stood silently, regarding his young ward for a moment. “You want combat training.” It wasn’t a question.

Dick just shrugged, still staring at the floor.

“Alright.”

Dick looked up, surprised. Bruce had dropped into a combat ready stance. “Come at me.”

Dick, still too shocked to form a coherent reply, hesitated.

Bruce took advantage of it, and _flew_ at the boy.

Dick tumbled to the side, reacting instinctively. He jabbed out, the same punch he’d thrown at the other 9 year-old-earlier that day. Bruce sidestepped easily. He threw a slow punch at Dick, who did a backflip to avoid it. Dick inwardly took a moment to revel in his ability to avoid a hit from _Batman_, before a large hand his filled his vision and his face lit up in pain as an open-handed blow was delivered. Dick crumpled to the floor.

He blinked rapidly to clear the tears of pain from his eyes, and saw the hand was now being offered forth to help him up. He took it.

“We’ll practice more. I can see you’ve been itching to learn.” There was the smallest of smiles. “Are you hurt?”

Dick shook his head, just rubbing at his cheek silently. The pain was already starting to wear off.

“I will teach you more than just to hit people. I’ll teach you how to use their strength against them. How to diffuse situations with just your words. You’re very talented Dick, and I don’t want you to use your strength to hurt people. Is it a deal?”

Dick nodded slowly, and stuck out his hand. Bruce took it gently but firmly, giving it a shake.

“Deal.”


	2. Chapter 2

It had been purely coincidence they’d run into Abigail O’Shay, or _Madame Crow_, on their patrol. She didn’t usually work alone, and it was clear they had surprised her when they found her on a rooftop breaking into a Gotham University lab to steal supplies.

Neither Dick or Damian had any personal experience with her, but they’d been debriefed.

“She’s not much of a fighter,” Damian uttered, before lunging forward.

Dick grimaced. That didn’t mean she wasn’t dangerous.

Damian was already firing a grappling hook to a tower above them, using the momentum to propel himself forward. Dick could see he was going to throw his weight at her in the hopes of a quick and easy tackle.

But she turned slightly to face Robin, and Dick could see the telltale glimmer of the reflection of glass in her hands.

“Robin, look out!”

Too late. Robin’s forward momentum was such that he wouldn’t be able to dodge, and Dick could tell if he hit them with any of his weapons, they’d break right on him. Dick launched himself at his younger counterpart right when Madame Crow whipped the glass balls in his direction. Damian let out a small grunt as he was knocked sideways, and Dick felt the vials break against his face. He coughed, trying not to breathe in whatever poison Scarecrow’s former victim was throwing around.

There was a shout as Damian hit the ground, knocked totally off balance by Dick. The roof was pitched in such a way, Dick saw his leg buckle underneath him, as Damian collapsed. Dick himself skidded to a halt on his knees, but got to his feet, still coughing. He watched as Madame Crow sprinted forward, and turned to run after her.

“Gr-Nightwing,” came a pained voice from behind him. Damian was struggling to get to his feet, and gave another small cry of pain when he fell again, even though it was clear he was trying to stifle it.

“You stay here, I got her.” Dick called to him.

For a moment, Damian looked surprised, then torn. He glanced sideways for a moment. “My-my leg…”

Dick felt anger and impatience bubbling up within him. “You’re still conscious. Wait here, and call for help. She’s getting away.” Without another word, he turned and raced after Madame Crowe who was leaping to the next roof. He heard in his radio Robin’s shaky voice about a minute after he’d left him.

_“Robin to…to Oracle,”_

_“Robin, are you alright? Where’s Nightwing? Weren’t you out on patrol together?”_

_“He…he’s in pursuit of Madame Crow.”_

_“What about you, are you hurt?”_

_“I’m…immobilized, but nothing critical,” _Damian said, trying to downplay the injury.

Dick reached up and shut off his earpiece. This would be distracting. He felt adrenaline coursing through him, like he had a singular focus on catching his target. He pushed his muscles after he leapt up and over the rooftop wall, and forward into space. He tumbled, swinging around and grabbing onto a scaffolding and swinging up and over it like it was a parallel bar to scale the wall. A dangerous maneuver, but one he wasn’t afraid of.

Something nagged at the back of his mind, but he pushed the thought away.

\--

A soft flutter of a cape sounded from behind him, the only indication his father had arrived.

Damian hadn’t been able to move from the spot he was in. Some kind of fracture in his ankle, he could already feel the pressure from his boot as his leg swelled around it. There wasn’t anywhere to really pull himself to, so he’d just sat there, breathing deeply through the pain with his eyes shut.

Grayson had…he’d just _left_. He’d never done that before. Not to him. It came as a surprise to him that he was…_upset_ about it. Of course the thief was the priority but Damian couldn’t remember a time since they’d started working together that Dick hadn’t at least asked about his well-being when he took a hit.

He opened his eyes as Batman moved in front of him and leaned down to inspect his foot. Damian bit his tongue to keep himself from crying from pain. Mostly pain. He looked down in shame.

“What happened?” Batman asked softly.

“Madame Crow, she threw something. Grayson took the hit.”

“Names,” Batman chastised quietly. “Did you breathe in anything?”

“No,” Damian answered. “But if Nightwing did breathe in anything, I don’t think it was fear gas.”

“Singularly minded, impervious to danger, unconcerned with your well-being,” Batman said, taking out a small field splint he began wrapping around Damian’s leg. “Madame Crow uses anti-fear gas. Almost as dangerous in its own way.”

There was the whine of something almost like a small engine through the air. A glowing blue, nearly white, symbol lit up the air as a humanoid form with bat wings extended fell feet first towards the rooftop.

Luke Fox landed lightly across from them, the metals and lights of his batsuit gleaming in stark contrast to his and his father’s own muted cloth and armor. He gave a little wave. “Hey Bats, hey Little Bird.”

“Don’t call me that,” growled Damian.

“Cool, Little Cactus then maybe.”

Batman turned to him. “I’m going after Nightwing, get Robin to Leslie’s.” Batman reached into his belt, pulled out his grappler and launched it into the night. He swung from the rooftop without another word.

Damian watched him go.

Next to him, Luke sighed, not super keen on the idea of picking up a small murderous child.

Damian looked up at him, and then looked down and sighed heavily. “I will permit you to carry me this one time.”

Luke leaned down. “Don’t stab me.”

\--

He saw Madame Crow leap to a catwalk some distance away and hurried to follow. He knew she wasn’t the nimblest of villains, and could probably catch her easily. He got to the same catwalk about a minute later, doing a flip with the intent of landing lightly on it. However, as soon as his feet hit, the catwalk buckled and dropped. He grabbed to the railing, but it was rusted through and snapped in his grip. He pulled his grapple out and hooked it onto the ledge, swinging easily onto a windowsill. He felt his heart racing, but that was normal for an almost fall like this.

Had it been racing before?

It didn’t matter. He jumped straight up and clutched onto another window and swung his legs up. This one was open and, in his rush, to pursue he propelled himself forward.

In his lapse of caution, he felt something tear into his chest as he flew through the window. It was small, sharp and thin, and he could feel the heat and the wetness of blood well up in the slices in his suit. He hissed, turning his body so he didn’t do more damage. He didn’t even look down as he landed. His heart was _hammering_ now, and he was starting to become short of breath.

He just had to go a little longer, he almost had her. He was on the upper level of a two-story, run down office, long abandoned. Except apparently Madame Crow was using it as a base. He tapped his mask, switching it to low light as he rushed forward.

He was about to round a corner he could now see outlined clearly, when something grabbed his wrist. He whipped around, throwing an elbow into his attacker. Batman’s heavy glove caught it easily.

“It’s time to leave,” his mentor said.

Dick roughly pulled his arm away. “I have this, _you_ can leave.”

Batman just nodded towards the floor. Now that he was staring at it, Dick saw a trip wire glistening in low light.

“You’ve been gassed,” Batman said simply. “You’re not thinking clearly. You need to go home.”

“I’m thinking more clearly than ever. Get out of my way!” He threw a punch at Batman, who easily sidestepped. “You’ve always been holding me back, afraid I’ll be better than you, and I won’t have to be a miserable old man like you are to do it.” He swung another punch, but Batman grabbed Dick and threw him to the ground, pushing his weight over top of him. Dick felt his shoulders strain as he tried to get loose.

“Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“I don’t care!”

“That’s the problem.” He felt something prick his neck, and then almost immediately, felt his nerves calm like a gentle wave of cool water was rushing through him. The tension left his body, and he sank down into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

“R’as. What a pleasure to see you alive again.” Dick kicked the body of the League of Shadows member he had just been fighting slightly away from him as he sensed Damian tense beside him.

“Don’t speak with my Grandfather, just attack. It is better not to let him use his words against you.” Damian unsheathed his own sword, and Dick gave one of his escrima sticks a twirl, as Ra’s stepped further out of the shadows and into the courtyard.

It was the first time Dick had seen R’as Al Ghul since their victory over the Reach years ago, but it was also the first time he’d been to this base, and with Damian in tow. He was nervous the kid would overreact. He was still raw, still untested where his old family was concerned.

But Bruce was missing, and Dick had been thankful and appreciative when Damian seemed to put aside his reservations and fell smoothly into the role of his partner in order to find Batman.

He shot a glance at the younger boy. “Robin,” he said under his breath. “Leave R’as to me. Just keep any other leaguers off our backs.”

Damian stilled, but gave an affirmative grunt, as he threw his cape over his shoulders and dropped into a defensive stance.

“I will admit, you both got here slightly before I could reveal my plan,” R’as spoke up from across the courtyard. “However, I dare say, The Detective’s…reconditioning… is in full effect. He is more than capable of handling you two.”

Dick felt a shiver rack down his spine as a familiar silhouette stepped out of the shadows next to R’as. He heard Damian’s whispered “_No!”_ from beside him.

“Robin, stay behind me. Don’t engage.”

“Grayson, he’s too strong for you!” The words weren’t angry, but fearful.

Any other time, Dick might have been touched that Damian would show so much concern openly. But he could see his youngest brother was scared, and in any family, Dick was always the foundation. It’s what he was best at.

“It’ll be okay, Little Bird. Not my first mind control rodeo.” We winked and gave Damian a much cockier smile than he felt. He turned his attention back on Bruce in front of him, and crouched in a defensive stance, his weapons in front of him.

Bruce didn’t hesitate. He rushed forward, directly at Damian, who was wide-eyed. To the younger boy’s credit, he brought his sword up, prepared for the assault by his father. Dick leapt, trying to stop Bruce’s forward momentum at his son, but Batman was ready. He caught Nightwing’s leg and spun around, throwing him to the ground. Nightwing nimbly rotated into a tumble and as he came up to his knees, flung a baterang at Bruce.

The whistling of metal through the air was halted abruptly by Batman using the blades on his guantlets to snap the baterang away from him. He also seemed to have decided that Nightwing was the bigger threat than Robin. Nightwing didn’t give him a chance to reconsider, and leapt forward. Batman threw up an arm, blocking Dick’s first attack. As he landed, Dick followed up with a series of practiced swings with his escrima sticks, Bruce blocking each one effectively. He was swinging one stick in from the side when Bruce suddenly dropped to the ground and swung out his leg, which Dick barely avoided by leaping backwards.

But even mind-controlled, Bruce was still one of the fastest people Dick had ever met. He was finishing the flip, his toes already on the ground with the rest of his body pitched forward, when Bruce drove upwards, his armored shoulder driving into Dick’s stomach painfully. He felt something that almost was like a tearing. _That can’t be good._ He grunted as his muscles clenched, and quickly shifted his balance to the side in a practiced maneuver. He threw one hand on the ground, pushed off and kicked out, the momentum from his legs swinging his body to the side where he landed on his feet a few feet from Batman’s reach.

Dick’s eyes widened as he heard a shout and saw Damian soar through the air to try and kick his father in the back of the head. Bruce whirled, catching Damian’s foot, and without missing a beat, used the boy’s momentum to throw him right at Dick. Both proteges cried out as Dick caught the smaller figure, but before they could recover, Dick heard the telltale whistling of some Batbombs sailing towards them. He turned, and curled further around Damian than he already was, as heat flamed across his back and he was propelled up and through the air.

His arm, shoulder and head smacked the ceramic tiles of the courtyard as he tucked his knees under Damian to protect the smaller boy from the same fate. His back was burning.

He didn’t have enough time to see if Damian was okay, before Dick was pushing him away from himself. “GO!” he shouted. He gave him another push and had just gotten his hands underneath him when a boot cracked across his jaw. 

He fell to the side with a pained cry, scrambling to his feet with less finesse than he usually managed. Blood filled his mouth and he spat it out to clear his airway, so he could try and breathe through the burning pain in his back. It felt mostly superficial at least, but he had no way to tell in the heat of battle.

He heard the swish of a cape as Batman flew through the air towards him again and he managed to cross his arms in front of him as a second kick impacted hard. Dick pushed Batman away and then somersaulted backwards to land shakily on his feet.

He heard swords clashing behind him and turned slightly to see Damian block a blow from Ra’s. To Dick’s trained eye, the few parries Damian was using were simple defense maneuvers, nothing like the kid’s usual flair. He seemed angry but Ra’s was pushing the attack, possibly in an attempt to incapacitate. Dick turned slightly but heard the telltale _fwip_ of a baterang flipping through the air once again. He swung out with one of his escrima sticks and batted it away. He tumbled forward and turned his momentum into swirling roundhouse kick he aimed at Ra’s. The older raised his arm to block it and Dick landed behind him.

“I told you to run,” he growled. It was painful to speak. His jaw was already starting to swell and he could feel blood and heat pushing through swelling veins in his face and up to his skull.

“I’m not leaving you both here,” Damian’s response was firm. He brought his sword up to block another sweep from Ra’s, and didn’t see Bruce’s massive, black form diving straight for him.

“Damian, move!” Dick leapt forward to push Damian out of the way. The younger boy stumbled behind him, but Dick was unprotected as he felt Ra’s sword cut deep across the Nightwing emblem emblazed on his uniform.

“Out of the way, fool. I have no interest in a pretender.” Ra’s squared up as Dick’s hand covered his chest where he could feel blood beginning to coat the front of his armor.

“Father, stop!” Dick sensed movement behind him and turned to see Batman had tackled Damian to the ground and was holding the boy’s arm behind him in a move that Dick knew would break it if Damian struggled too much.

Dick fell down on his hands and brought his legs up, hitting Ra’s squarely in the gut. He then launched himself in the opposite direction, tackling Bruce and smashing his head on the ground. Bruce let out a pained grunt as Dick punched him again, trying to knock him out. Bruce’s armor was hard enough that Dick didn’t feel that bad about slamming his head against the tiles a third time.

Batman groaned slightly, and Dick hesitated.

He felt something wrap around his waist and had a brief moment of realization it was Bruce before he was slammed downwards. Batman rose over him and drove an elbow down into his face. Dick felt his nose break and his mouth well up with blood again. His vision flashed white, and he sound drifted away for a moment. Dazed, he tried to scramble away, blood pouring from his mouth and nose now. He heard the sound of metal slice through air but he was still recovering his balance. He braced himself for impact.

It came from a direction he wasn’t expecting, as something plowed into his side, knocking him out of the way. He heard small gasp, and the sound of a blade cutting through heavy cloth. Damian’s face filled his vision, the boy’s teeth gritted together. Dick scrabbled to his feet, pulling Damian back with him. He felt warmth through his gloves from where he touched Damian’s back, the sword having sliced through his cape and armor. His own blood was still running thickly down his face, some of it getting into his younger brother’s hair. Dick wished Damian hadn’t taken that hit, but he wasn’t going to berate him. Not now.

“Enough of this foolishness,” Ra’s growled. “Damian, if you stand in my way, I won’t hesitate to end you. After all, I can always make more of you.”

Dick ground his teeth together and tried not to show any outward sign of how enraged he was on Damian’s behalf. The younger boy, for his part, showed no outward sign the words affected him. His fingers curled slightly tighter around Dick’s wrist from where he was holding him, however.

“Come with us now, and we’ll dispense of the Pretender painlessly. You have my word.” Ra’s stood to his full height, and extended his hand.

Damian was still for a moment, before the sound of his boot scraping across the dirt filled the courtyard. He brought his foot behind him, dropping into an attack stance.

“So be it.”

Damian moved before Ra’s could, but Batman had already lunged back at Dick. Dick was barely keeping pace now, he just had to trust Damian was faster than Ra’s, better than Ra’s, as he fought to protect his own injured body from his mentor. 

He had faith in Damian. He had faith in Bruce.

Dick’s whole face now felt like it had been hit by a truck, picked up off the street, and re-attached to his head. His breaths were coming in high wheezes, and his movements were slowing and his vision getting narrower. He managed to block the first few kicks and punches, before an uppercut got through his defenses, and he was falling. He hit the ground with a thud, trying to move, but his felt detached and he wasn’t sure where his limbs started. A heavy weight fell across his chest, and something sharp was being held against his throat.

“B-Bruce,” he coughed out, blood spraying upwards as he did so. “Please…Damian n-needs…needs you,” he rasped.

In answer, the baterang dug more into his throat.

Damian cried out and Dick heard a sword clatter to the ground. He tried to look, but all he could see was Damian’s form but…he was standing over Ra’s with a sword against his throat.

“Father,” Damian said, breathing heavily. “Let him go.”

Ra’s for his part, looked livid.

“Bruce…don’t let…him kill…” Dick pleaded. He could feel the baterang begin to shake against his throat and he saw Bruce’s teeth grind together.

“Tell me how to fix it,” Damian growled, and Dick heard a gasp from Ra’s as the sword was pushed deeper against his throat. Other than that, Ra’s remained silent. “Tell me!”

Ra’s swallowed, and looked at Batman, still kneeling on Dick’s chest with a baterang to his throat. “End this,” he rasped.

“Father, _DON’T_!” Damian screamed as Batman reached back.

Dick, barely able to see out of his eyes now that the skin had swelled around them, just looked at Bruce. He was unable to draw more breath. It wasn’t his own impending death that scared him, he’d been ready for that for a long time.

_This would destroy Bruce, though._

Batman’s fist swung towards his face for what was most likely a killing blow. With a final surge of strength, Dick reached up and wrapped his arms around Bruce’s shoulders. Batman, unprepared for the maneuver, stilled as Dick rolled him, holding him tightly in what was very nearly a hug.

Dick shuttered, his whole body shaking, as he held tightly to Batman, who was shaking in turn. “Save your son,” he whispered. “I’ll be fine.”

His grip loosened and he fell back, smiling at Bruce. A gloved hand reached behind his head, gently, helping him lower the rest of the way. Dick could see the tight clench of his jaw, the raw rage he’d spent so many years watching. “I’m sorry,” choked out the low voice.

The telltale flutter of a cape, and Dick could feel the wind rushing over him. Damian would be safe. His _family_ would be safe. Batman _flew_ towards Ra’s and Dick could hear bones breaking. But even now, Batman knew when to stop himself. Dick sighed heavily, and turned his head to the side so he wouldn’t choke on his own blood as dark spots clouded his vision.

\--

He woke up a few times. He felt himself being lifted and carried. Then strapped into a seat as Damian’s much smaller form crawled over him. A knee poked him in the abdomen and he hissed in pain, curling forward. His back was also a mess, and his face was tight and he had a massive headache from where the blood was trying to force its way through his swollen veins.

Damian’s face immediately filled his vision. “Grayson, we can only fit two adults in the Batwing. I’ll try to be still.” He then turned around and tried to curl up by Grayson’s feet, with a grumpy, but determined look on his face. Dick couldn’t hold back a laugh, and it immediately left him short of breath. He gasped, and Damian’s face immediately lit up in alarm.

“What’s happening?” Batman growled from somewhere in front of him.

Something clenched painfully in in his abdomen, a pain that had been duller in contrast to his other hurts but now was making itself known. He sucked in more breath through his mouth, and only tasted blood. He wasn’t sure if it was the blood from his broken nose, or something else entirely. Small, firm fingers were suddenly pressing down on his torso, just under his navel. He cried out in pain, and the fingers pulled away. “He has a deformity in his abdomen. Possibly bleeding.”

To the untrained ear, Damian sounded calm, but Dick knew him well enough to pick up the undercurrent of worry in his voice.

“Hang on, we’re almost to a JLA base.”

Dick could see some tears start to form in the corners of Damien’s eyes, and he reached a shaky hand up to his brother’s cheek. “Dames…gonna be…fine…” he tried not to cough up blood, but only succeeded in making a sort of week gurgle.

Damian, normally one to lash out in anger when he was frustrated or scared, just bit his lip hard. He cracked a soft ice pack and lifted it up to his brother’s cheek. He held it gently, trying not to obstruct Dick’s breathing. Dick might have chalked up his brother’s shaking hands to the flight, but the smooth progression of the Batwing never had such turbulence.

Dick wiped his thumb across Damian’s cheek, wiping a tear away.

“I wanted to kill him,” Damian whispered to him. “He’s never…he’s not like Father. He’s not like _you_.” Damian looked down, lowering his hand, and Dick in turn lowered his own so he could weakly pull Damian closer. “I didn’t want to kill him for vengeance though!” Damian peered back up, eyes pleading with Dick. “I wanted to kill him because it would have been the fastest way to help you and Father.”

Dick pulled him closer into his slashed and aching chest. “Did good,” he whispered.

Damian, reluctantly at first, but then growing more comfortable, held onto him for the rest of the flight back to the closest JLA base. Dick’s consciousness was fleeting, but he felt himself being transferred to a gurney, and then to a boom tube up to the Watchtower. The next thing he remembered was Damian, in a hoodie but still with his mask on, leaning onto his bed. He was positioned awkwardly, asleep but curled over Dick’s forearm. He didn’t see Bruce, but he was soon drifting off again.

He woke up again later, and was covered in bandages from his chest, down towards his abdomen. There was a brace on his nose, and his whole felt tight, and ached in pain. Damian was still there, curled up against his side on his bed this time. Dick smiled fondly.

“How are you feeling?” a gruff voice said quietly from his side.

He turned his head slightly, seeing Bruce sitting there. Across he was still wearing his fully Batman regalia.

“Like shit,” he answered, somewhat distressed his voice came out more as disheartened moan than words. He saw Bruce grimace slightly, and instantly regretted. “Sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine,” his mentor cut off, succinct as ever. “I regret it ever came to this. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you’re both alright.”

“Ra’s?”

A deep sigh. “Slippery as ever. I couldn’t focus too much on him, and once I’d gotten you to the Batwing, discovered he’d escaped. Your need was more pressing. Broken ribs, some internal bleeding, minor burns, broken nose, bruised jaw.”

“Bruised ego, more like,” Dick smirked.

Batman didn’t reply. “You did well. Both of you.”

Dick sighed. He wasn’t really in the mood for an approving debrief right now. He looked back towards Bruce.

“Have you talked to him yet?’ he inclined his head down towards Damian who was still sleeping.

“We,” Bruce paused for a moment. “…had a debrief.”

“Not what I meant, Bruce.” At the mention of his name, Batman frowned but didn’t say anything. “He needs more than a _debrief_, his grandad just tried to kill him and half his family.

“Not exactly unusual for Ra’s.”

Dick gave an exasperated huff that left him a little woozier than he’d have cared to admit. “You want him to be a normal kid. Well, somewhat normal.” He took a quick glance down at Damian to make sure he was still sleeping. “You gotta talk to him about this stuff.”

“I di-”

“Like his _Father_, Bruce. It’s not easy for any of us, but it’s especially not easy for him. The rest of us have somewhat of an idea of at least what a normal family looks like. You need to be there for him.”

Bruce turned away for a moment.

“I know I haven’t always been…a good guardian,” he said quietly.

“No one’s perfect, but you know exactly what you have to do now, Bruce. After all you had a lot of practice. Stop being his boss for a day, and be his father.” The mini tirade had left Dick winded and he sank back down into his pillow and closed his eyes.

“You’re right,” Bruce acknowledged. “We’ll be returning to the cave as soon as you can walk.” He stood up, looking incredibly out of place in the brightly lit florescent lights of the Watchtower medbay. “I will speak to him then. Get some rest.”

He stalked out of the medbay.

Dick looked down, carding his fingers through his brother’s hair. “I know you’re not asleep.”

Instantly, Damian’s eyes opened, but his breathing remained the same, a trick he had learned to make it seem like he was sleeping.

“Did you mean it?”

“Course I did. You can always talk to me, but I know it’s not the same.”

Damian sat up. “I appreciate the gesture. It…means a lot.”

“I hope you know how important you are. To all of us. I’m sorry that Ra’s said what he did.” Dick took his brother’s hand gently.

“Thank you. I know logically it was an attempt to hurt me, to put me off guard.” He turned to look at Dick. “But it…does mean a lot you’d say that.”

Dick reached forward and pulled Damian into a hug.

“I love you, Damian. Don’t forget that.”

Damian looked like he was about to break out of it, and then got a very sour look on his face. “Ugh…you…too,” he sighed in defeat.

Dick laughed and planted a big wet smooch on his brother’s forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can find me posting dank memes all day on redtigress dot tumblr dot com.


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